A Birmingham headteacher has been identified as one of the victims of the M5 motorway smash in which three people died on Friday.

Daniel Slinn died while his wife Lisa and the couple’s 11-year-old daughter were seriously injured in the accident which occurred on the M5 near Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, when a van ploughed through the central reservation into their car.

Mr Slinn - head of Calshot Primary School in Great Barr - was returning from a half-term family holiday in Cornwall to their home in Edgbaston, Birmingham, when the tragedy happened at 7.30pm.

His daughter, who suffered a broken pelvis and is recovering at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, was told of her father’s death over the weekend.

Mrs Slinn was released from Selly Oak Hospital yesterday after being treated for a knee injury.

Devastated staff at Mr Slinn’s school referred inquiries to Birmingham City Council as they struggled to come to terms with the tragic news.

A spokesman for the authority said: “We are deeply saddened by this tragedy and are awaiting formal notification from the coroner that the families have been informed.

“We will issue a further statement in due course.”

The van collided with Mr Slinn’s Mitsubishi Colt after its driver apparently lost control and smashed through the central reservation into on-coming traffic on the other side of the road between junction 8 and 9.

Both its occupants - named as Harbinder Singh Dosanjh, 36, and Manjit Kaur Dosanjh, 35, a married couple from Coventry - were pronounced dead at the scene despite efforts by fire crews to cut them free from the wreckage.

Mr Slinn, previously head at Cromwell Primary School in Nechells, suffered multiple injuries and died by the roadside.

At least 15 other people were also injured after the van’s cargo of beer barrels were hurled “like missiles” according to a senior investigating officer at the scene.